Former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy won’t seek late uncle’s U.S. Senate seat

Former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II will not run for his late uncle Edward Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat, he announced today. Joe Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy and a former Marshfield resident, said in a statement that he’d considered seeking the U.S. Senate seat and received many “calls of support and friendship.” But he ruled out a run.

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

Writer

Posted Sep. 7, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 7, 2009 at 7:19 AM

Posted Sep. 7, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 7, 2009 at 7:19 AM

BOSTON

» Social News

Former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II will not run for his late uncle Edward Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat.

Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy and a former Marshfield resident, said in a statement that he’d considered seeking the U.S. Senate seat and received many “calls of support and friendship.” He also said that he remains committed to social and economic justice, much like his father, and that he preferred to advance those causes outside elected office.

“After much consideration, I have decided that the best way for me to contribute to those causes is by continuing my work at Citizens Energy Corporation,” Kennedy said in a statement posted Monday on the nonprofit group’s Web site.

Kennedy lived on the South Shore in the late 1980s before moving to Cambridge to seek the seat held by former House speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill. He served six terms in Congress before leaving office in 1999 and is now president and chairman of Citizens Energy, which uses energy-related commercial revenues for charitable projects.

He was succeeded by former Somerville Mayor Mike Capuano, one of several people who have been mentioned as Democratic contenders for the vacant U.S. Senate seat. He and fellow U.S. Reps. Edward Markey and John Tierney, as well as former U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan, have said they would consider campaigns if Joseph Kennedy does not run.

The only two top Democrats thus far to pull nomination papers are Attorney General Martha Coakley and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch. Canton selectman Bob Burr will seek the seat as a Republican. Several others, including former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, said they are considering a run.

Joe Kennedy’s decision means that no one in the Kennedy family will represent Massachusetts at the national level for the first time since 1947. That was the year John F. Kennedy went to Washington, having been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.